佛祖統紀 28.121

28.121

The Pei family's parrot. In a record by Wei Gao, Mayor of Chengdu in the Tang: Someone presented a parrot to Pei of Hedong, who said: 'The name of this bird is recorded in the Indic scriptures; its intelligence is extraordinary among its kind.' He always treated it with fond respect. He initially told it of the prohibitions of the Six Fast Days and of eating at forbidden times after noon; thereafter, it ate nothing until evening. Sometimes he taught it to invoke the Buddha's name; it would raise its head and flutter its wings as if listening attentively. Every dawn and long night, it made gentle and elegant sounds, reciting 'Amitābha Buddha' in continuous succession. One day, it appeared haggard. Its keeper struck a chime stone and told it: 'Are you about to depart from here and return to the West?' With each strike of the chime stone, it uttered the Buddha's name once; when the chime was struck ten times, ten recitations were completed. Folding its wings and dropping its legs, it peacefully expired. According to Buddhist scriptures, when ten recitations are completed, one achieves rebirth in the Western Land. They also say that one who receives the Buddha's grace will leave relics upon death. Fire was then ordered to cremate it, and over ten relics were obtained. Recorded in the ninth month of the nineteenth year of Zhenyuan.